Epic Games Will Punish Gamers Who Post ‘Gears of War 3’ Spoilers

Spoilers are a very controversial topic. Some people actively seek them out while others will fight tooth and nail to avoid them. In the entertainment world it’s hard to escape having at least some part of a game or movie’s experience spoiled for you, but it’s the elements that the creators of said project think are really great that they try to save for your first hands-on experience with the game.

Taking that idea to heart is developer Epic Games who is promising to punish any and all who ruin the experience of Gears of War 3 by posting videos of the game on the net. If you remember, over a month ago a digital copy of Gears of War 3 leaked online which ended up causing quite a stir amongst gamers and Epic.

While some were eager to get their hands on this highly anticipated sequel, others realized that the copy was obtained by illegal means and could face serious repercussions, and they were right.

Turns out Epic Games was actually paying close attention to those user names who posted videos of the Gears 3 campaign, ostensibly spoiling many of the game’s exciting moments, and plan to do their best to ban those users from playing the finished product when it releases next month.

Obviously those who posted the videos may be in possession of a Gears 3 build, but as Epic has stated, that is not indicative of the final product, and thus they would be missing out. And certainly being unable to participate in multiplayer, co-op (largely considered to be Gears’ bread-and-butter), or in the recently announced 3D mode is a serious hit to any fan of the Gears franchise.

Executive Producer Rod Fergusson explains:

“We have a banning system built into our stuff so we can go in and identify certain people. Some people aren’t smart about what they do. They’ll be disappointed on 20th September when they can’t get in and can’t play. They may be banned.”

For now, Epic is simply trying to deter any gamers from posting or re-posting videos of the Gears 3 campaign online or trying to spoil the experience in venues like Gears forums or during live chats with the game’s producer Rod Fergusson — the act that inevitably forced Epic’s hand.

As fans of the series we know the temptation is high to see what Epic has planned for the conclusion to the Marcus Fenix chapter of the Gears of War story, but it’s not worth being unable to play the game when it releases.

What do you think of Epic’s decision to punish any gamers who post videos of the Gears 3 campaign online? Do you think that developers should be able to punish gamers who spoil their game’s experience?